Saint Alto, Saint Bridget and the Founders of the Mariamunster

c. 1500

German 15th Century

Associated Names
German 15th Century

Artist

The image is an intricate and colorful illustration on aged paper. It features various figures, including a central woman seated in a dark robe with a hood, holding an open book. Surrounding her are smaller figures: one resembling a child with a halo and another in red ecclesiastical garments and a bishop's mitre, holding a shield. Two smaller figures above may be angels, set within a leafy background with architectural elements. The illustration is bordered with green vines and a central cross motif at the top. The image is rich with symbolic and religious iconography reminiscent of medieval or early Renaissance illuminated manuscripts.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut, hand-colored in green, red lake, brown, gray, and yellow

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.579

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Schreiber, Vol. *, no. 1185, State b

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Weiss & Co., Munich); Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] purchased 19 August 1939 by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA (L1760c and L1932d); gift to NGA, 1943.
[1] For complete information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Rosenwald Papers, box 9, and Richard S. Field, Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1941

  • The First Century of Printmaking 1400-1500, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1941, no. 37.

1965

  • Fifteenth-Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, NGA, 1965-1966, no. 185, repro.

1990

  • Gardens on Paper: Prints and Drawings, 1200-1900, NGA, 1990, no. 17, repro.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schreiber, Wilhelm Ludwig. Handbuch de Holz- und Metailschnitte des XV Jahrhunderts. 8 vols. Leipzig: Verlag Karl W. Hierseman, 1926-1930.

1965

  • Field, Richard S. Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1965: no. 185.

1990

  • Clayton, Virginia Tuttle. Gardens on Paper: Prints and Drawings, 1200-1900. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990: 17.

Wikidata ID

Q64953024

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